Hazel's got a little bite or scratch a little ways away from the lance, and it's looking a little inflamed and starting to get puffy today. I put a bit of Neosporin on it, is there anything else I can do in addition or that might work better to fight the inflammation? Is there a page for wound care somewhere?

Unfortunately, I doubt that Neosporin will do anything for it if it's showing the beginnings of infection. I'd recommend seeing a vet before a full abscess develops.

Antibacterial/antifungal creams can help when an scrape first occurs. But they really can't do anything for a bite, because the organism is down in the skin. And once an infection has started to set in (the inflammation and puffiness) after an injury, it's not likely to clear it up.

You can continue to treat it that way (apply sparingly, rub in well so the pig can't ingest it) until you can see a vet, but if it were me, I'd call for an appointment.

Edited to add after I saw the picture: That's open enough that the Neosporin might help. Soak it (if necessary) to get any scab off, then apply the ointment. But if it doesn't start clearing up immediately, then see a vet.

@daisymay: No, that's just a fold in her ear, and what you're seeing near the ear is an irritated bite/scratch, no lump there, just puffiness (so far). The lump is between her shoulder blades, she's been to the vet and they lanced it, hence the shaved area and the lance wound haha. Nothing came out unfortunately. She is going back to the vet for a biopsy Tuesday after it heals enough for them to get a good sample. We'll decide on how to handle things from there once we find out more about what kind of lump it is.

@Lynx: No, she's been attacked my my other pigs during the reintegration process and they got her there. She is now separated from them at the vet's request so that she doesn't get any more injuries that might interfere with the biopsy.

The little bitty white bump almost dead center of the "bare" area of her ear. If it IS a simple skin tag, it's nothing to worry about and that's what it looks like to me. There are actually a bunch of tiny spots there, but only the one looks big enough to be tag. I could be wrong, though.

The neosporin worked and the inflammation on the wound next to her ear healed up well :D

So we just got done with the vet. The lump seems like it's smaller today- the vet's not sure why this might be. It might be that there was inflammation around the lump due to a bite, and that's gone down now that she's healing up, or he said it might be that it's regressing on its own. He mentioned something that might behave like that, but unfortunately now I've forgotten what it was called! I think it began with a "g". Not sure though.

We decided to hold off on aspirating it in the hopes that it continues to shrink on its own. I'm going to keep her in isolation for a few more days or a week, then if all is still good try reintroducing her to the other pigs again. If at any time the lump starts growing she's to be brought back to the vet, and if after a week or two it hasn't regressed more, she's to be brought back again for an aspiration.

I *think* it's getting smaller still. It's definitely still there, and it's still definitely smaller than it was when I first noticed it (softer, too). Hopefully it will continue, but I'll still be keeping an eye on it till I can't find it any more.

On a different note, Hazel's STILL having diarrhea. To review:

-this has been going on ever since she was a baby, she is about 8 months old now and 540g. She is pretty thin, her ribs are easily palpable, not quite 'showing through' but just barely. It may also be worth noting that her toes seem deformed, kinda curly. One nail on each front foot curls up instead of down, and I wonder if there might be some condition linked to this, maybe some trauma she experienced before she came into my care even.

-the firmest her poops ever get are teardrop shape. Probably half to 2/3rds of her poops are large and soft- never liquid, only ever just mushy and otherwise deformed.

-she is fed alfalfa pellets and timothy grass hay. She does not eat much hay compared to my other girls. She is on BeneBac powder every few days, either mixed with Critical Care or sprinkled on damp pellets.

-she has been to the vet about this a few months ago (December), she had a fecal and urine sample taken which both came back clean. This is when she was put on BeneBac.

-I have cut just about all fresh veggies out of her diet and now use vitamin C drops on her pellets. For a treat once, sometimes twice a day, I give her a piece of those julienned carrots that come in salad mixes 1/2 inch long or less, or a piece of bell pepper the same size. She still gets diarrhea without the veggies, but it seems like it gets worse with them.

Her behavior seems to have worsened these last few weeks. If she is in a bad mood, she will snap at my hands if I happen to touch her front feet (but will not do this if she is in a good mood, so I don't believe she is injured there). She's always chewed on my hands when I hold her, but she's never been one to strike like this.

Earlier this week she ate a hole in the towel lining her cage about 1/2 inch in diameter. I've caught her chewing fabric occasionally but this is the first time she's actually ingested any. She's produced many poops in the days following so no blockage, and she hasn't eaten the towel since.

Other information... She is active and will run around her cage occasionally, maybe once a day but the rest of the time she sits in her hidey. She is separated from the other girls. I am waiting to reintegrate her till I have a few days off from work to be able to keep an eye on them because the last few attempts have not gone well. I have the introductions link and will again be following the directions.

Yeah, poop soup and Bene-Bac both sometimes seem to help a little, but it's never been cured. Not sure if you're asking if she's had it or the duration of treatment when I've tried it, but I've done poop soup daily for 4 days in a row, and when I first started her on Bene-Bac she was on it daily for two months straight. Currently I feed her Bene-Bac every other day or sometimes every three days mixed with Critical Care, so she gets 1/4 t of the powder each treatment.

I have not considered B vitamins, or heard of that as a potential treatment. Is that a supplement I can pick up from a drugstore and feed to her, or do I need to take her to the vet for it (I notice on the GL Nutritional Supplements page it mentions injection with subcutaneous fluids)?